Paul Thurrott "confirms" new Xbox 360

On This Week in Tech's (TWiT) weekly Windows podcast they had Windows SuperSite god Paul Thurrott come visit for a little post CES/Macworld chat. And around minute 28 of the podcast he starts to talk about the Xbox 360. Supposedly, he heard through the Microsoft grapevine that there indeed will be a newer Xbox 360 coming out later this fall with enhanced features. IPTV support built in, a bigger hard drive, and all being run by the new 65nm CPU. But Mr. Thurrott is not an official Microsoft spokesman...

[Mikey_Gee]

He is basically saying he HEARD A RUMOUR ... like the rest of us. Could even be the same one from the same source we all heard.

[candystop]

I will just wait for an official announcement and leave it at that!

[CyberSentinel]

http://www.gamespot.com/new...

M$ is just testing out all technologies, for Research and Development purposes. Something PS3 should of done with their bluetooth controllers to prevent them from shutting off in the middle of a game.

[shotty]

Whats the big deal anyways, all you ppl act like it never happened before. Did sony bend over when they released the ps1 slim or the ps2 slim. Did Nintendo bend over when they releasted the Gameboy pocket, SP, ds lite, gamecube lite (wii :)). Or how about that shiny new video card you spent $500 on becomes so last month. What you all expect the current xbox 360 to be sold until 2010, as things get cheaper they can squeeze more in, like in 2005 20 GB was a certain price im sure by 2007 we can get a 60GB for the same price. And how much times has the ps2 had a die shrinkage, same here it save money for microsoft.
die shrinkage: 100% justifiable
harddrive increase: 100% as time passes, technology gets cheaper
HDMI: Also justifiable, there was no such thing as True HD audio or 1080p when the xbox 360 launch so it wasn't needed, it would have been unnessary cost to the system, as time goes HDMI enabled tvs are more common and therefore it would make it worthwhile to actually include it. Its NOT like we are getting a faster processor or more ram, no that all stays just everything gets more refined. $5 also says the main GPU and the daughter die are gonna be on the same die with this new revision. If you are so obossed then why not get a warranty and exhange you system when the new one comes it. Ken already said the ps3 is getting spec boasts since its a "computer" so atleast thats not happening here.

[DJ]

"like in 2005 20 GB was a certain price im sure by 2007 we can get a 60GB for the same price." -When that 20GB hard drive was released, its retail counterparts were $50 (now $40). It's a standard Samsung HDD, but in a proprietary plastic cover, and a connection that Microsoft put in so that only THEIR HDDs could store Live Content. That's $50~60 of profit per Hard Drive sold.

"HDMI: Also justifiable, there was no such thing as True HD audio or 1080p when the xbox 360 launch so it wasn't needed, it would have been unnessary cost to the system"
-Completely false, as HDMI was already becoming the HD output standard, and quickly replaced Component and VGA due to its superior quality and HDCP compliance. Both PS3 and Xbox360 were announced at the same time; Microsoft simply didn't want to cough up money for the HDMI port.

"as time goes HDMI enabled tvs are more common and therefore it would make it worthwhile to actually include it."
-Which is why it should've been there in the first place.

"$5 also says the main GPU and the daughter die are gonna be on the same die with this new revision." Nah.

"If you are so obossed then why not get a warranty and exhange you system when the new one comes it." -You didn't think this one through very well did you.

"Ken already said the ps3 is getting spec boasts since its a 'computer' so atleast thats not happening here."

-Got Proof? I don't see Sony adding a second HDMI port, or doing a hardware revision. All their updates are purely software-based since they invested so heavily in the hardware from day one. Microsoft's a software company, so it's understandable that they would screw up on the hardware side of things.

[CyberSentinel]

If M$ felt the need to add HDMI support, they would have. Money, I'm sure, for Micro$oft, isn't an issue. Lol.

[shotty]

You know some of the hardware profit goes to Nvidia and Intel right, for B/C. I stand behind the fact that HDMI is not needed for gaming. The only thing you need HDMI is for loseless audio. Sony included a blu-ray player in the ps3 therefore MUST include HDMI, on the other hand microsoft did NOT include HD-DVD and focused on getting the games right, component can do full 1080p for games and audio can be pushed out throught toslink.

I know you going to argue about the HD-DVD, well the fact remains is that its an add-on about 2% of the xbox 360 install base even has it (200000 units), so why do we need HDMI in the xbox 360 so what to satisfy the 2% that use the HD-DVD. To make HDMI even more senseless how much people of that 2% even have a receiver capable of outputing loseless audio, exactly. The a/v philes that have those fancy receivers are the ones that buy the deticated players, the xbox 360 drive is for the "general" customer to get into HD and enjoy HD movies. In time the cost of adding HDMI will come down, and I see Microsoft adding it to the higher SKU of the xbox 360 as these fancy receivers are more common.

You have to remember the xbox 360 came out in 2005, they were no HD-DVD/Blu-ray, 1080p, TrueHD audio or anything, microsoft isnt even a hardware company to test it out so they had to noway to account for this. Now that this stuff is out they can start adding it in to the higher skus are adoption rates go up.

As you see sony jamming all this stuff into the ps3 didnt make it popular, actually it scared away the casual crowd with words like Blu-ray, Full HD and lets not forget Kaiz "$599 US dollars". Just today I went to Walmart and saw 2 ps3 60GB sitting there, they only had this 1 column of ps3 stuff so there might have had more ps3 sitting in the back since there wasnt room to put it in the display case. The wii case has no systems or controllers and a few games, they had like 20 xbox 360 cores, but were out of a tons of games. Thats how I measure it, by the number of games sold, the ps3 section was dead, honestly looked exactly like how it did at launch except they know had consoles in there with about 40 psps stacked around the 2 ps3s. Honestly I don't see this situation changing anytime soon until soon drops the price by $200 and gets some decent games.

[TheMART]

I can confirm there will be a new PS3 without the non standard BR player with a normal DVD drive.

Now is that going to happen also?

This guy isn't from MS. As long as there isn't confirmation of someone inside MS I call it BS

I mean come on. Is everyone that is saying anything these days believed instantly? If that's true, Sony would be selling the PS3's like hot cakes. As they don't because people luckely see they're lying constantly.

[Marriot VP]

At most this "zepher" thing is just a marketing test to see how the public would respond to a more decked out version of a 360.

I personally wouldn't care because I know that I won't go over 20gb, and I use VGA.

[marionz]

the slimline came out years after the ps2, its too soon to see a remodel especially to the hardware, it makes people feel ripped off if they get the first model only to have a second version soon after, but it is microsoft after all, who cares about the little people? its all about the money yeah?

[InMyOpinion]

I agree. If it's true I want something in return. Feels like they're expecting your original 360 to break down sooner or later.

[ironwolf]

If they do release an updated version per this fellows time schedule, it would be two years after the initial release. What's the big deal? And why do you feel you need something in return? PS2 slim line buyers got nothing in return. If I trade my 2005 car for the 2007 model, I get nothing in return (other than the trade value). I'm not recompensed because the new car has more features. People, you are all starting to sound like a bunch of spoiled brats.

[shotty]

Its not a slim xbox 360, only internal changes. Sony had a die shrink for the ps2 after launch aswell. To the consumer all they will see is an extra port and maybe more space on the harddrive due to the cost of technology decreasing and MS now able to higher capacity drives at a lower cost.

[marionz]

after reading the full story tho it sounds a bit dodgie, the guy didnt seem to know much, and it sounds like one of those "according to a source of a source of a close friends relitives dead dogs aunties" storys

[zonetrooper5]

If this is true than i'm not p!ssed off to be honest as my Xbox 360 still works. The only thing i want is a bigger hard drive. 60GB would do me fine but 120GB would be excellent. But then i would need to transfer all my data from my 20GB Hard Drive to the new hard drive.

[shotty]

All I hope is microsoft include some type of USB cable that you plug your new drive to the xbox 360 and automatically copy everything over to the new drive.

[Marriot VP]

shotty, your account holds everything except your Marketplace downloads. So in other words you would have to re-download trailers or demos. But how hard is that?

[shotty]

ya but what about the game saves, far cry maps and other such files that simply can't be downloaded. Also it would take time to download everything back to the new drive.

[Mikey_Gee]

Maps, expansion, pics, themes, vids .. would have to be re-downloaded. Time is the only cost.

As for game saves, pick up a mem card at Walmart..save your games ... transfer to your new 360 ... return mem card to walmart.

OR better yet ... borrow a friends

[Marriot VP]

dangit shotty, I knew I forgot something when I typed that.

And yah it looks like the best option is to get a used mem. card from somewhere or borrow one.

[power of Green]

It never ends. DJ DJ DJ... lol

DJ Knows and cares more about the 360 than we/I do. DJ Enjoy your PS3 when you get it and stop the nonsense. Living in the pre-launch(PS3) era with that pre-launch logic and thinking.

[Mikey_Gee]

"Now you can take this as "official confirmation" if you wish, as it may be true, but don't bet your life savings on it. Mr. Thurrott does have contacts, but things can (and often do) change in a year. Heck, we may even see the inclusion of the rumored HDMI input this fall ... something Paul didn't even talk about."

THat tells me it is still JUST A RUMOUR

"IF" it is true, who cares ... I am more than happy with myu current 360. When/if it ever dies on me, I "MAY" look in to this new 360 "IF" it is real.

- My machine has never overheated
- HDMI is "NOT" a must
- Bigger HD, I will buy one as a stand alone when available.
- IPTV support is one thing, but if your local area provider does not support it (as mine does not) it is a none issue.

[mellowspaz]

I'm sure your area is sold out but if you were actively seeking a PS3 ONLINE you would have known in the past, it was available at BestBuy.com or Amazon for a good length of the day. The amount of posts and time you spent on 360 news on this website implies that the real reason you don't have a PS3 is because either you can't afford one or the games out on PS3 suck. Go to slickdeals.net to look at the forums for availibility, I'm tired of hearing your fanboy excuses that you don't have one.

[MicroGamer]

"IPTV support built in"

So does this mean that the rest of us who already own a 360 won't be able to use our consoles for IPTV use?? I don't care about the HDMI thing, but this really burns me. I was going to switch to Verizon FiOS service for this.